11 Fermi’s Paradox Solutions That Will Make You Have An Existential Crisis

Fermi’s paradox is the contradiction between the high probability that alien civilizations exist and the lack of contact we’ve had with aliens. Here are 11 potential answers to Fermi’s paradox, some of which sound feasible, while others resemble big-budget sci-fi movie plots.

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All advanced civilizations are listening for signals, not sending them.

Imagine 10 people scattered across Earth several miles from one another. Each of them has a cell phone, but instead of dialing different combinations in the hopes of contacting one another, they just keep an eye on their respective phones, waiting for an incoming call.
Read more on this theory here.

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Aliens are observing us like zoo animals.

Advanced beings are studying us from afar instead of interacting. There are many reasons why they might choose only to observe, whether it’s because they’re waiting for us to meet particular criteria as a civilization or they simply want to observe us in our natural habitat without knowledge of their existence.

Imagine trying to contact someone by making a phone call to a fax machine or sending a text to a landline. Aliens could be sending out signals right this very moment and we’re just not listening for them the right way.